Chicago ─ Attorney General Lisa Madigan today announced that neighbors of a central Illinois hog operation should breath easier now that its owner is implementing operational changes designed to drastically reduce offensive odors that emanated from the facility.

A consent order entered Monday in Peoria County Circuit Court requires Bontz Pork Farm, Inc., to avoid winter applications of waste and to apply manure only during favorable weather conditions at a farm owned and operated by Clayton Bontz five miles from the hog facility he also owns. Bontz Park, located near Mapleton, is a farrow to finish hog operation with approximately 400 sows.

Madigan said Bontz recently took advantage of a federal cost sharing program designed to rectify environmental problems at farm facilities by constructing a modern waste storage structure that provides more than six months storage capacity for more flexibility in land application. In all, Madigan said, Bontz’s cost of compliance with the consent order totals $210,000.

“This important development will help remedy nuisance air pollution conditions causing conflict between those who live in this rural setting and those who do business there,” Madigan said.

In 2003, residents and officials of the Village of Glasford complained to the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) of unreasonable offensive odors caused by the land application of manure from the Bontz production facility that, in some cases, forced them to leave their homes. In August 2004, Madigan filed suit against Bontz Pork Farm for alleged lack of adequate odor control measures during land applications of swine waste and improperly storing waste in unlined earthen structures without the approval of the Illinois Department of Agriculture.

Bontz Pork Farm also paid a civil penalty of $5,000 upon entry of the consent order in court Monday. Assistant Attorney General Jane McBride of Madigan’s Environmental Bureau is handling the case.